Bears Bash Princeton, 11-1, in Run Rule Victory

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SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Junior Cheyenne Cordes blasted a grand slam to left field in the fifth inning to give the California softball team its second run-rule win in as many games with an 11-1 victory over Princeton Saturday afternoon at the Marriott Round Robin in Santa Clara, Calif. The Bears were extremely efficient with their at bats, tallying 12 hits to improve to 16-11 overall.

Junior Danielle Henderson was the first Bear to reach base, drawing a walk at the bottom of the first. A wild pitch helped her to second before senior Victoria Jones singled up the middle to plate Henderson as Jones went to second on the throw. An RBI single to left center by Kostreba gave Jones her own opportunity to score, and Cal led 2-0 after one inning of play.

Senior Jordan Wallace led off the bottom of the second with a single to left field, then made her way to third on a ground out by junior Mary Lee and a single to center field by senior LaRisa Jones. Jones moved into scoring position after stealing second base, then charged to third on wild pitch as Wallace came home for the first run of the day. Junior Cheyenne Cordes tabbed a sac fly to left field to help L. Jones complete her trip around the diamond and give the Bears a 4-0 lead after the second inning.

The Tigers managed to score a run at the top of the third using a single up the middle by Cara Worden to score Maddie Cousens, who ripped a double to center field to get on base.

The Bears answered Princeton's run in their half of the inning with a run of their own. Henderson crushed a leadoff double to the right field corner, heading to third on a fly ball by V. Jones and then scoring on a ground out by Kostreba.

Though both teams went scoreless through the fourth inning, the Bears produced a six-run fifth inning to down the Tigers. Cal players doled out extra bases left and right, starting with a leadoff double by Henderson. V. Jones singled then stole second base, and both runners were primed to score on a Kostreba single through the right side. With Kostreba on the diamond, senior Ashley Decker and Wallace hit back-to-back singles to load the bases. While next batter up, Lee, hit into a fielder's choice for the first out of the inning, the bases remained loaded. With the table set, Cordes hit a bomb for her first grand slam of the season.

Cordes finished 1-for-2 with a run, a walk and five RBI, while Kostreba added four RBI in a 2-for-3 performance. Henderson capped off the junior class' contributions with a 2-for-2 day with three runs.

Sophomore Nisa Ontiveros (9-5) offered up just five hits and gave up one walk while fanning one. Meredith Brown was charged with the loss for four innings in the circle, giving up 10 of the 12 hits without a strikeout. Claire Klausner pitched the final two outs before Cordes' grand slam, giving up two runs and two hits.

Cal wraps up its Santa Clara M.rriott Round Robin play with a pair of games Sunday, starting with a rematch against Princeton at 10 a.m. followed by a bout against Santa Clara at 3 p.m.